Time to check in. Last week was Riverboat Days. Beautiful weather and family fun. Laura Beth, Nick, Mason and Asher were here. Mason brought his tent--Nick and he slept in it. The nights cooled off to the 50's and the days were perfect--75-80F with a slight breeze. How did we all fit?? Quite well with some planning---

Grandpa bought rolls for breakfast

Luckily someone remembered we needed a high chair---its hard to feed Asher without one!

One afternoon we walked on the historic Meridian Bridge--its only foot and bike traffic now.

Laura Beth pushing Asher

If you look carefully you can see Nick and Mason waaay at the other end--its a double decker bridge--they walked across on the bottom level and then back across on the top. It was a very narrow bridge--not for the faint of heart. Ken and his dad drove a combine from Nebraska over the top a few years ago.

One day we stopped at the Visitor Center--Mason dressed in the homesteader clothes for us--

Mason as homesteader

A photo from the parking lot--all the spillway gates are open slightly--

Laura Beth, Mason, Nick, and Asher

All the water was being released through the spillway and the generators were shut off--divers were in the water doing maintenance.

I'm back to volunteering--a lady came into the Visitor Center and said a butterfly had just "hatched" and was fluffing up outside. I grabbed my camera and found him (her?) on the paving stones out front and convinced him to climb on my hand for a ride to the bushes.

Its a Swallowtail butterfly---its wings were too crumpled for me to identify which species exactly.

I've been making yo-yos--there are now 578 in my baggie. Making yo-yo's is very relaxing.

Have you been sewing? Family fun and vacation? The days are getting shorter and summer is winding down.

My only goal this week is more yo yos. It's Riverboat Days starting Friday and I'm going to have fun. Laura Beth, Nick, Mason and Asher are coming to visit. Luckily the weather has cooled--Saturday night we had a few scattered showers and Sunday was overcast and in the low 70's. Hopefully the weather will only be in the 70's during the day and cool at night.

Whenever I am home I never see the Morning Glorys blooming. Henrietta knew I missed them and took this picture---

These were planted from a mixture of seed so the color was a surprise. Thank you Henrietta--they are so pretty!

3-36 patch blocks, 6 Spinner blocks, and a pile of 4 patches. Thank you to SoScrappy for hosting this challenge.

All year I can hardly wait for these--

Tomatoes from my garden! YUM! Small but tasty. The extreme and prolonged heat has been hard on them, I had hoped I would have extra to can but I doubt it. Even with plenty of water the plants didn't blossom or set fruit much when it was so hot.

And a picture from the Visitor Center---

Why is water being released through the spillway gates? No, not flooding---extra water needed for navigation (barges). Because of the drought the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers require extra water to maintain enough depth to float barges in the river channels. (I think its 9 foot deep across a 30 foot channel--but I'll have to check) How much water is being released--38,000 cubic feet per second--or 281,200 gallons per second.

Remember the flood from last year? This picture shows how high the river rose. See the line across the sign and on the concrete?

Its a beautiful day--I think I'll sit outside later and make--surprise---yo yos!!

Yo yos! A very portable project--perfect to pick up and take along. Making yo-yos with a Clover Yo Yo maker is easy. This size finishes at 45mm--or 1 3/4". I have a whole shoebox of ugly unloved 5" charms I can use. The circles are cut about 4.5" in diameter using the lid from a gallon pickle jar for a template. So far I'm just making yo yos--I'm not sure what pattern I will set them in--but I know if I want something large enough to cover a queen size bed--that uses about 1,500 yo yos. Not really that many--my bag has 200+ in it already.

Henrietta humors me in this project, I'm sure she thinks I am quite insane. But--then I find out SHE'S joined in. And that magazine--I've found it! ROFLMAO--not gonna happen!

Last night brought high winds, rain and a bit of hail. Toni, Eddie and I take refuge in the Administrative building during storms. While driving across the parking lot I was almost struck by the huge garbage dumpsters. Luckily I saw them and hit the brakes--I was wondering how I would explain this to my insurance agent--hit and run by an unmanned dumpster??

Dumpsters--almost as big as my car!

These are big dumpsters--I can barely see over the lid. Even the concrete curbing could not contain them in the high winds.

We knew the storm was coming--we had been watching the radar. Hmmm--should I take a few things I wouldn't want to blow away in my car? Yes--might be a good idea. I packed my meds, my jewelry and purse, and--my featherweight! Ken listened to my choices and then said "oh yes, the sewing machine would be my FIRST choice." I think there was a little sarcasm in that comment.

If you had to pick a few items to put in your car to take to a storm shelter--what would you choose??